Snowy Days Were Here Again...

THE snow has yet to melt from the storm that blew in Wednesday. While the main roads are clear of it, the back roads remain slushy or frozen or powdery at best. The shady sides of the roads still have drifts of snow and the same goes for those roof tops that are under the trees. The snow on our roof melted and either dripped off or fell off in big slabs depending on where the sun was shining brightest.

All around the porches icicles hung in varying lengths. From under the deck there were rows of them as they grew between the slats of wood. They showed no signs of melting until around 11am Thursday morning and when they did melt, it sounded much like rainfall out there. I guess because there were so many of them.

The birds decided to hit the feeders again seeing as how the ground was covered with snow. They still won't perch more than one at a time. Rather they sit on the roof rafters waiting their turn. I don't get it... We will definitely have baby birds come springtime as a fat, little, mama bird keeps going in and out of the bird house with all manner of nesting materials. I hope I'm home when the babies get their flying lessons. :)

At my house in FL, the mama bird built her nest in my Christmas Cactus basket. It hung on the front porch, right outside the window and one day when I went to water it, she came flying out of the top of the basket. I had no idea she was even in there. I took a mirror to see up in the basket and sure enough, there lay two tiny little white eggs. No more water for that cactus...it did manage to survive somehow. When the baby birds were born, we could hear them chirping through the front windows. When they got their flying lessons, they went from the top of the basket over to the screen on the window. They just hung on for as long as they could and then they flew back up to the basket. After a week or so we didn't see them anymore but every year thereafter a mama bird would make her nest in that basket hanger with the Christmas cactus.

The puppies are doing well with their lessons. Ruger has become quiet the little gentleman when it comes to walking on a leash. Colt still won't budge and we don't like pulling him along so he stays tied up at the doghouse. Both of them will come to us when we call them and they will both sit when told to. Ruger will still give us his paw when we put out our hand - he taught himself that one, we had nothing to do with it. Colt always goes behind our legs when we call him. He runs over, gets behind us and sits down then puts both paws on the backs of our legs. We don't know why. They still get excited when we go out to play with them, so much so that they piddle every time. Ruger is the new Houdini. Apparently his collar was loose enough that he could escape so Wally had to fix it where that wouldn't happen again. He showed up on the porch barking and peaking in the glass door. Fortunately it was Ruger because you know what a time we would have had if it had been Colt who escaped. LOL

The horses don't want anything to do with us other than to be fed. They will let us pet them but they really just want to eat. I can scratch under their halters and up between their ears but after that I can tell they prefer I just leave them to their buckets of sweet feed. Come springtime, we'll get re-acquainted as they will be allowed on our side of the gate again. I thought about growing carrots but I think it would be too much to ask of a horse not to dig them up and eat them....

The big dogs continue to nap in the sun on the front porch and they tolerate the puppies but only to a certain point. When the puppies start jumping on their backs, they pretty much lay down the law. They're just getting too old for those puppy antics all day long. I did notice though that they will snuggle with the puppies in the early morning when the temperature is at its coldest. I drive by the dog house about 5ish each morning and they are all snuggled together, the puppies looking out at me, the big dogs still sound asleep. I tried to take a picture but it didn't come out. I guess it was too dark.

The roosters scratch and peck all day long and several times a day they'll make their way towards the water bucket. If snow melts on the driveway, they just drink from those little puddles instead. Two of them roost in the tree off the back porch while the others roost out in the woods. Don't ask me - I have no idea why it's changed to this. Roo remains their leader even if they do run him off. Wherever he goes, the rest are sure to follow within just minutes. I'm sure they're enjoying the puppies being tied up. They haven't been herded in a week! LOL

The roosters are doing their part to help out on the farm since we started feeding them around Dizzy's apartment. We throw out their food and they dig and scratch and peck until it's gone all the while tilling the soil for me and adding bits of fertilizer during the process. Good boys!!


For those of you in FL, it's garden-planting time :) For me that won't come for another couple months - or so I hear. Don't forget the newspaper when you plant your tomatoes, wet it and put it in the hole first. Be sure to plan on at least two "Early Girl" plants. They don't get very tall but they put out a bumper crop of maters. My little plant got just a foot and a half tall but we ate probably 25 tomatoes off of it. I bought it off the shelf at Home Depot for about $3.50 - $4.00 and it came in a biodegradable pot. In case you happen to get a late freeze, just cover the plants with a towel or pillow case. They'll be just fine if you remember to uncover them when the sun comes out the next day. Can't you just picture yourself eating a tomato sandwich with homegrown tomato slices tucked in between that white bread with mayo, salt & pepper??? mmmmm

My drive home Wednesday was an experience never to be forgotten. Let's see, it started out that I had to stay late at work. I finished my conference call at 3:00 and was out the door and in my car by 3:15. Before I had been on the road even 20 minutes the snow started falling. It fell fast and it fell in major quantities. Nothing like the northeast gets but all in all - it was a lot of snow. I had started out on my little two lane back roads but after seeing how quickly it was piling up, decided to get on the main road as soon as I could. The main road takes a little longer but I knew it would be more heavily traveled and that helps to keep the snow at bay...sometimes - not this time.

By the time I got to Fairview, which normally takes about 20-25 minutes, I had been on the road 45 minutes and the worst was yet to come. Fairview is hilly and curvy and everyone, it seemed, decided to get on the road at the same time so there was actually traffic. It was very slow going. At times we weren't going more than 10 miles per hour and that seemed too fast. The lines dividing the roads were covered with snow as well as the lines on the sides of the roads. The only way I knew where to drive was to follow the person in front of me who was obviously following the person in front of them. We kept about 6 car lengths between us at all times and even then slowing down, speeding up and stopping were risky at best. I couldnt' say how many cars were already off on the sides of the roads where they had slid.

My windshield was freezing over and the wipers couldn't compete. I had to turn the defrost on high to keep it warm enough so the ice would melt. The wipers were so clogged with ice that they only hit in a few small places. The ice was piling up around the wipers to the point that I thought they would get to the point where they couldn't move at all. I turned off the radio and I didn't answer any calls. No way could I talk and drive in that mess. By the time I got to Hwy. 46 I was pretty well stressed out and very much tired of driving in the snow and slush. It took me from 3:15 to 5:30 to get to the bank. I still had our little back roads to take to get home.

Fortunately Wally said I could park my car at the bank and he would come and get me. Oh Thank God. I sat there trying to just calm my nerves while I waited for him to get there and once I finally did relax, I realized I had to pee. I had to pee badly, as in painfully bad. I wiggled my legs and undid my jeans but the urge would not go away. I watched as car after car drove by up on Hwy. 100. I watched the snow plow truck go by (where was he when I was out there on that road???) and I watched the bank employees leaving for the night. I had to go, go, go. What else could I do? I zipped up my jacket, got me a napkin out of the door pocket and out I went. I figured it would be better to pee in the pouring down snow than in my car after all.

It was in between daylight and dark and at that point I didn't care who saw my big, fat, butt out there, I was going to pee on the far side of my car! As the snow crunched underfoot I made my way round to the other side, napkin in hand. I got squatted down and held onto the tire and...nothing. I couldn't go. I still felt the pain and the urge but nothing happened. Good grief! I made myself relax which wasn't easy to do considering my current position in life and finally the stream began. ahhhhhhhhhhhh I made lots of yellow snow in a hurry and was soon back in the warmth of my little car.

Wally showed up minutes later and we were on our way. As it turns out, I could have driven the rest of the way home. The little back roads leading to the house were in better condition than any of the roads I had been on since leaving work. Oh well. I was still grateful to let someone else do the driving and I wasn't going to need my car because there was no way I was going back to work the next day...not on those roads.

We watched the news when we got home and all over town cars and trucks were stranded or crashed. A few people talked about having to leave their cars and walk home - one guy walked 5 miles in that weather. The weatherman said what normally takes him 30 minutes, took 6 hours for him to get home because of all the traffic problems. I could feel for him. They say you get better at it and I suppose that's true but it's certainly not something I look forward to. I'd rather go shopping if that tells you anything.  :)  LOL it's true!

Thursday we woke to a beautiful scene around the cabin. Some critter with very large hoofs had walked in the snow outside the side door - possibly a big deer? Doesn't matter, we didn't see it and hunting season is over but those tracks were as big as Wally's hand so whatever it was, it was big. The sun wasn't quite up yet but it was coming and the snow once again looked as if someone had sprinkled silver glitter all over it. It sparkled like little diamonds were out in it.

I made pancakes and sausage for breakfast and planned for the rabbit stew for dinner. I did some spring cleaning in the kitchen - everything got scrubbed down. I took a shower, got dressed and we headed out to feed the animals. I think it was 10 degrees. It didn't seem like it was that cold though because by now the sun was up and shining brightly. Nothing was melting yet but it wouldn't be long. We hooked up Ruger to the leash and went for a walk to feed the horses. He's getting so big that he practically knocks me over when he jumps on me. His paws reach my chest. He's just having fun and doesn't realize how big he is but I'm hard pressed to keep my balance on flat ground, imaging me in the snow :)  I'm sure it looked pretty funny if anyone happened to see it.

With the feeding out of the way, we headed back into the warmth of the cabin. We watched tv, made a few calls then tried to decide when to get my car. According to the news it was still a mess out there so we were happy to just hang out and do nothing until the snow melted enough to get back to the bank. I think we got it somewhere around 11am.

We road over to Centerville to get some things from Fred's and to check the specials at Chappels. You know what happens when we get to Centerville - we might as well go see Darryl. LOL We didn't stay long since we had to go back and get the truck. Darryl promised more eggs and put me on the list for the race pool. If anyone drops out, he said I'm first in line for their spot. They do it different and it's too much to explain but suffice it to say, it's not easy to get in.

Yes, I made the rabbit stew when we got home. The rabbit was okay but I didn't care for the juice it cooked in. Wally liked the juice better than the rabbit. So for those of you who didn't want me to eat the rabbit in the first place, rest assured I won't be eating another one any time soon. It was just kind of bland... :(  The winter root vegetables that went with it were outstanding, however, and if you have never tried celeriac (aka celery root) I give it a good recommendation. It's a little difficult to peel but it slices up nicely once the peel is off. It has a slight hint of celery taste to it but no where near as strong. I think it would be good sliced up in a chicken soup - in fact, I'll let you know how it is as I'm going to use it in my next batch.

The weekend is finally here and we're looking at 50-60 degree temps for Sat. and Sun. respectively. We'll be outside doing something and you know I'll be cooking up a storm. That's a much better storm than a snowstorm FOR SURE.... LOL Give Ricky Kline a hug for me if you see him - his birthday is Valentine's Day... Thanks!

"The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had." ~Author Unknown